Ebook: Depictions of Thailand in Australian and Thai Writings: Reflections of the Self and Other

This thesis offers both an examination of the depiction of Thailand in
Australian novels, short stories and poems written in the 1980s and after, and an
analysis of modern Thai novels and short stories that reflect similar themes to those
covered in the Australian literature. One Australian film is also examined as the film
provides an important framework for the analysis of some of the short stories and
novels under consideration.
The thesis establishes a dialogue between Thai and Australian literatures and
demonstrates that the comparison of Australian representations of Thailand with Thai
representations challenges constructively certain dominant political and social
ideologies that enhance conservatism and the status quo in Thailand. The author
acknowledges that the discussion of the representations of Thailand in contemporary
Australian novels and short stories needs to take into account the colonial legacy and
the discourse of Orientalism that tends to posit the ‘East’ as the ‘West’’s ‘Other’.
Textual analysis is thus informed by post-colonial and cross-cultural theories, starting
from Edward Said’s powerful and controversial critique of Western representation of
the East in Orientalism. The first part of the thesis examines Australian crime stories
and shows how certain Orientalist images and perceptions persist and help reinforce
the image of the East and its people as the antithesis of the West. From Chapters
Three through Six, however, more literary works by Australian authors are examined.
The important finding is that most of the Australian authors under consideration
attempt, though not always successfully, to resist and challenge the Eurocentric
stereotypes of Asia and Asians that dominated Australian literature in earlier periods.
This difference between contemporary Australian authors and their predecessors
seems to reflect modern Australia’s endeavor to distinguish itself from the rest of the
Western world and to redefine its relationship with Asia.
As literary representations cannot be separated from socio-political contexts,
the thesis also includes discussion of the Thai social and political history and, where
appropriate, shows how colonialism and neo-colonialism exert their impact on
modern Thailand.